The Trans-Hudson toll and fare increases recently approved by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey mark a pivotal moment in the metropolitan region’s history of transportation finance and traffic management. The action is the largest-scale attempt to date to manage congestion in the region with toll and fare increases that vary by time of day, and it brought the issue of value pricing to the public’s consciousness in a way that no prior actions or studies have accomplished. Whether this will be remembered as a catalytic event that ushered in a series of successful innovations that won widespread public acceptance of value pricing, or as an experiment that did little to change pricing and congestion management policies, will depend in large measure on a continuing series of policy choices that will have to be made by the all of the region’s transportation agencies, as well as by the political and civic leaders shape the course of these agencies.
To help understand the implications of different policy choices, this paper attempts to put the Port Authority’s actions in the context of the region’s history with value pricing. To further stimulate creative thinking on these choices, it also extends that history with a speculative account of what could happen if policy makers, civic leaders and transportation managers make value pricing a priority and skillfully navigate the complex political and technical issues involved in large-scale implementation. It is written from an unabashedly “pro-pricing” point of view, but acknowledges the importance of continuing debate on how to use this tools in the public’s interest.
